Johor Port Marine Pilot

To monitor the vessel’s progress, the pilot had set up his portable pilotage unit (PPU). He had connected the rate-of-turn generator to the vessel’s pilot plug and had set a variable range marker on the radar with a radius of 0.5 nm.

It’s my first voyage taking over solo watch as a navigating officer – from bridge commands to monitoring traffic and weather, every second counts. Once we arrive in Ningbo, it’s straight into cargo operations, intense mooring work, and pilotage.

Based on MAIB Safety Digest 1/2025, Case 12, published April 2025 by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).

Video showing marine pilot navigating a cargo ship from Plan du Port

The debate is whether highly skilled pilots could have successfully overcome the recent Boeing 737 MAX computer deficiencies. Will this question eventually be relevant to harbor pilot skills?

As the COVID-19 pandemy restricts our daily lives more and more, Shipping Lines, Ports, Linesmen, Tugs an Pilots will never stop. We are all part in a big chain that keeps moving cargoes anytime, worldwide. Today we may wear face masks, we do not shake hands anymore, and we stay at a safe distance from each other onboard. But we keep them ships moving. This is a short video about the outgoing COSCO SHIPPING UNIVERSE, a 400 meter long ULCS, from Yangtzekanaal, Euromax Terminal to sea.
She...

On 22nd February 2021, Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC) delivered a Pilot Launch, the third Pilot Launch, as per an Agreement signed with Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) on 1st February 2019.

This is a video I had captured off U.S Coast from a merchant vessel as the Pilot was transferred from our Ship to Shore via Helicopter.
All recordings were done using N8 (unbelievable clarity!)